Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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416. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware of a practice in public hospitals (details supplied); if a directive has been issued to public hospitals in respect of this practice; if all public hospitals have KPIs for cancer care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30808/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Health, I have supported the National Cancer Strategy with substantial funding of €50m for cancer treatment and screening services. Since 2017, there has been additional new development funding of €456m into national cancer services, including €81m on cancer treatment, screening and prevention; €316m on cancer medicines; and €59m on cancer research grants through the Health Research Board.

This funding has enabled the recruitment of more than 670 staff to our national cancer services since 2017, including an additional 200 nursing staff, 100 consultants, and 180 health and social care professionals in designated cancer centres. This means that our national cancer services have been strengthened, that more patients are receiving treatment, and that waiting times to access treatment are reduced.

For a number of cancer patients, surgery will be required as part of their treatment plan. The centralisation of cancer surgery, which concentrates resources and expertise in a smaller number of centres providing cancer surgeries and is based on best international practice, is continuing under the Strategy. Centralisation of cancer surgeries is shown to provide improved outcomes for patients, as it ensures that surgeons operate on a safe minimum number of patients to maintain expertise.

The Strategy contains a number of KPIs in relation to cancer surgery. KPI no. 11 addresses the need for cancer surgical services to be provided in approved centres and KPI no. 15 focuses on reducing waiting times for cancer surgery. The performance of cancer surgical services is closely monitored by the National Cancer Control Programme and the Department of Health.

Surgery for cancer patients can be preventive, diagnostic, or curative. In each of these cases, timely access to surgery is important. As part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan this year, time-critical cancer surgeries were prioritised to ensure they were performed as planned where possible.

I am advised by the HSE that it is very cognisant of the impact that a change in admission for surgery has on patients and, as such, every effort is made to avoid cancellation or postponement of planned procedures and operations. The HSE further advises that patients are scheduled based on clinical need, but that unfortunately surgery may be deferred due to consultants needing to prioritise time-sensitive or emergency cases. The decision to delay admission is not undertaken lightly and when such a decision is made, it is based on the safe delivery of care to all patients.

My Department continues to work with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to identify ways to improve access to care. This includes increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services, providing virtual clinics, and increasing capacity in the public hospital system.